Article by Ayman Alheraki on January 11 2026 10:36 AM
In the 1990s, I worked extensively with a remarkable multimedia scripting language known as GRASP, which was later renamed GLPro. This language, developed in C, stood out as one of the most advanced and accessible tools for building multimedia applications of its era. At the time, its only real competitor was Macromedia Director.
GLPro was designed with multimedia creativity in mind, combining ease of use with high performance. It offered a scripting experience that was:
Simple and intuitive — direct commands with minimal boilerplate.
Blazingly fast — execution speed was one of its most impressive features.
Powerful and low-level — allowing access to system-level features without complexity.
GLPro allowed developers to control:
Images and screen events
Window handling and layering
Input devices (joystick, mouse, keyboard)
Multithreading and asynchronous execution
Multitasking of visuals, animations, and input simultaneously
It enabled multimedia developers to build interactive applications that felt dynamic and responsive — a rare achievement at the time.
In the year 2000, the GLPro story took a turn. A company based in New York acquired the technology and soon discontinued it. I personally reached out to John Bridge, the creator of the language, who was understandably saddened by the decision. He later attempted to revive the language under a new name — AfterGRASP — and even created a website to support it:
Unfortunately, that project, too, has become inactive and largely forgotten.
I've always wished that a new programming language would emerge with the same core philosophy as GLPro: a graphics-oriented, scripting-based language that was:
Simple
Direct
Fast
Powerful
Capable of deep interaction with the GPU and CPU without layers of abstraction
Modern attempts to fill this space often lean toward complexity, requiring professional-level programming skills and deep knowledge of graphics APIs like OpenGL, Vulkan, or modern game engines.
But what’s missing today is a lightweight, beginner-friendly scripting language that still gives you:
Low-level access to hardware resources
Seamless multithreading and asynchronous control
Native support for real-time graphics, sound, and user input
In short, nothing today quite matches the freedom and efficiency that GLPro once offered.
There are a few promising tools that come close, though none perfectly replicate the GLPro experience:
Aimed at artists and designers, it’s great for visual work but lacks advanced threading and hardware control.
A fantasy console that uses a Lua-like script. Ideal for retro-style games with fast prototyping, but limited in scope.
A full-featured open-source game engine with a Python-like language. It supports threads, GPU access, and input handling, but can be more complex than necessary for simple multimedia scripting.
Combines Lua scripting with a lightweight framework for 2D graphics and audio. Simple, fast, and flexible.
An underrated tool focused on small, graphical demos and apps. Lightweight and scriptable, it allows for GPU usage and multimedia integration.
Given how impactful GLPro was, it's worth asking: Should we rebuild it? Imagine a modern scripting language or DSL (domain-specific language) that revives the simplicity of GLPro but with today’s GPU, multithreading, and multimedia capabilities.
As someone who lived through its golden years and developed multiple projects with it, I truly believe such a language is still needed — especially in education, prototyping, interactive art, and low-resource environments.
I’d love to hear from developers or enthusiasts who share this vision. Perhaps together, we can spark a modern reinterpretation of GLPro.
If you know of any language or project that resembles the GLPro philosophy, or if you're interested in collaborating on building a modern alternative, feel free to reach out.
Let’s bring back the era where simplicity met power in multimedia programming.